2024: Moving beyond cost reduction – to value creation?

It’s a question we often hear from clients and, according to a recent report by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), produced in collaboration with marketing transformation agency, Flock, the news appears to be good and, despite continually shifting market dynamics, there is a heightened sense of optimism among marketing procurement leaders.

 

It reports confidence that marketing spend will grow in 2024, especially amongst the larger advertisers: “expectations for savings in 2024 are higher, with half of organisations aiming for 7% savings or more, and one-fifth expecting over 11% savings, indicating a year of higher expectation for marketing procurement teams.”

 

With top-line growth and ROI measurement cited as the highest priorities for the year ahead, the report sheds interesting light on the challenges faced by teams looking to drive value – in spite of growing global economic uncertainties – and other challenges and opportunities (presented by the rapid development of AI, for instance).

 

The paper suggests that what’s required now is a fundamental shift in marketing procurement – one that goes beyond traditional metrics; it’s time to embrace a more holistic approach to achieving agency growth and success.

 

Moving away from the traditional sales-driven approach, we work with clients to adopt a marketing-led new business model. This starts with a thorough understanding of the value your business offers before crafting compelling narratives that resonate with a brand audience.

 

Embracing this approach often requires a cultural shift and for agency leaders, that means:

Working together and linking your leadership and marketing teams, to boost growth and market share and retain top talent while still being creative and delivering value to clients. New business should be part of the everyday running of the agency, with activities integrated into the very fabric of your daily operations.

 

Aligning your marketing strategies with the broader objectives of the organisation to gain deeper insights into performance metrics and uncover new opportunities for value creation. This requires a company-wide commitment to ongoing strategic initiatives and the right resources in place for their implementation.

 

Building trust: ongoing communication and transparency throughout the sales cycle is essential for reducing the disconnect between agencies and clients and establishing authentic, enduring relationships.

 

Proactively using a range of metrics for reporting, from top-line growth to ROI measurement and sharing financial targets with the whole company. A word of caution: don’t just focus solely on monthly pipeline revenue KPIs – look at your marketing activity metrics and network growth, from social media followers and newsletter sign ups to event attendees and website visitor. This helps everyone to truly understand the collective impact of a successful new business marketing-led strategy.

 

 

As brands seek to partner with the right creative and media agency, finding the balance between a premium agency which delivers exceptional results at a cost – and a cheaper one that promises maximum savings – is by no means straightforward. The middle ground for procurement specialists is to find agencies which deliver exceptional results at a reasonable cost and that mindset shift means viewing marketing spend as an investment rather than an expense. The same way agencies should start to think about their own marketing and new business initiatives.

 

If you’re looking to re-think your approach to new business and create sustainable long-term growth, get in touch with the Emma on emma@wearebeckon.com